In
recent storms Mother Nature has thoughtfully provided a
rainbow for this photograph of the technical artifact which
provides a major inspiration for the temporal aperture
consciousness model.

This $60 Radio Shack device (a common
log-periodic TV antenna) functionally
shares an important trait with millions of its compadres: by
design it has an antenna aperture. This is commonly
known and exploited every day. To the eye it is merely a collection of aluminum and plastic parts set up to
capture television signals from a distance.

To the electromagnetic
radiation - "radio waves" - which it is tuned to
capture, its actual structure is far larger than the mere
physical construction we see above. At the lowest frequencies
(channel 2 television) it has a functional aperture extending
radially 20 feet above and below the antenna's structure. To
the casual observer this is a virtual volume since we can't
see it, but to the radio waves, it is entirely visible and
necessary for the capture process. If metallic objects are
introduced anywhere within the aperture, it will affect the
performance of the antenna. Indeed in this installation the
ground itself is within the aperture and theoretically reduces
the antenna's performance. Most persons casually setting
up an antenna in the woods will not consider this
factor.

Your
eye sees this antenna as above in the woods, but radio waves at
the antenna's design frequency see a picture that looks like
this. The plastic and aluminum
structure has a perpetual surround that is invisible to the
eye. Here an actual mathematic antenna aperture graph
has been superimposed on our forest antenna. It is proposed that conscious beings
share this trait in common with an antenna as
such beings are analogously "tuned" to capture
sensations, percepts, and concepts through time, potentially in more
than a core 3-dimensions. The aperture surrounds
are "invisible" to the eye but are fully functional
and present as in our analogous TV antenna.

The antenna is designed for a wide range
of frequencies (USA TV channels 2 - 13), and its aperture
volume as described will vary considerably in size and shape
depending on the frequency under consideration. So the
aperture volume surround of this simple one-function device -
a TV aerial - is
actually extremely complex even though we can't
"see" that with our eyes.

Thus our analogical temporal aperture
surround proposed in sentient beings is likewise considered as
a dynamic, extremely complex and extensive volume. The temporal
aperture extent is directly related to the complexity of
its "owner's" functionality. Human beings are far more complicated than this
antenna.